Moments In Time
by Ultrawoman
Summary: A collection of unrelated one-shots, originally written for a prompt memes, challenges, etc. over at Livejournal, re-posted here for those that have not seen them. Various lengths and ratings, but almost all Eliot/Parker.
1. B is for Beam

**Title****: B is for Beam**

**Prompt by****: raven_40**

**Pairing/Characters****: Eliot/Parker**

**Rating****: G/PG**

**Setting****: future/non-specific**

**Word Count****: 365**

Of everyone in this odd little Robin Hood band, Eliot always found Parker the most interesting, and the most crazy, if he were honest. Five years down the line from their first meeting, he one day realised that he had catalogued a list of her features, her emotions, her reactions, and one thing struck him more than anything else - Parker had five smiles.

The first one was easy, and he'd dubbed it her 'crazy' smile. Any time she was saying something innappropriate or plotting something truly nuts; whenever she went carrerring off the side of a building with only a thin cord to save her. Eliot learned to love that smile.

Then came the 'awkward' smile, that nervous look like she was a kid who'd been caught with the hand in the cookie jar. It was there when she made a mistake and usually Nate or Sophie were giving her the parental look. It was the cutest thing Eliot had ever seen.

Parker had a 'fake' smile too, usually for cons when she had to grift. If the mark needed to think she was interested in him or she was meant to playing some kindly role, she painted on that same dumb grin, and strangely it was always the one that made Eliot laugh easiest - it was just so easy to see through!

In his head, Eliot called the fourth smile Parker's 'family' smile, that only ever came out in the safety of team gatherings. Hardison would let her win at some computer game or Sophie would fix her hair or Nate would tell her she'd done good, and she'd smile so bright and genuine, it lit up the whole room.

The fifth smile was the most important, but Eliot didn't know that til he saw it the first time. Parker was lying in his arms just beaming up at him, as bright and warm as the sunshine as she whispered 'I love you'. Eliot knew that smile, much like the words that went with it, was meant just for him alone. Yeah, that was his favourite of all Parker's smiles and he planned on being here to see it every day, forveer.


	2. K is for Kiss

**Title****: K is for Kiss**

**Prompt by****: csinygirl**

**Pairing/Characters****: Eliot/Parker**

**Rating****: PG**

**Setting****: non-specific**

**Word Count****: 713**

Eliot was usually pretty aware of his surroundings and ready for anything. Still, he jumped just a little when he came into Nate's apartment only to be hit in the knee by some projectile from the direction of the couch.

"Geez, what the hell...?" he cursed as he looked down at the fallen object and realised with some surprise it was a book, some dog-eared copy of Little Women that he crouched down to pick up.

"Er, hey, Parker?" he said as he approached the lone figure face down on the couch, a little wary of what she might do if he touched her at all, but not comfortable just leaving her to be upset either, "You okay?"

"No" she said, a sad and muffled reply caused by tears and the way her face was smooshed against the sofa cushions he guessed, "I'm gonna die without knowing"

Eliot wasn't entirely sure he understood what she was saying, but figured he was the only one here right now so he'd better figure it out.

"This have something to do with throwing books around?" he asked, dropping said item onto the coffee table, then carefully moving her so he could sit down on the couch, putting her legs back across his lap since there was nowhere else for them to go.

At last she lifted her head and turned over to look at him, face red from crying and hair all mussed up - she was still cute as anything.

"Amy thought she was going to die without ever being kissed" she explained, her eyes shifting to the book and then back to Eliot, "Laurie said he wouldn't let it happen, that he'd kiss her before she died"

"Right" the hitter nodded once, though he still wasn't really getting what this had to do with anything, "but Parker, you're not... I mean, you've been kissed, right?" he said, sure he was right; hell, the girl had made out with Hardison on a job last year, he had to be right.

"Of course" she snorted, like it was a dumb question, "but not like... y'know, like in a book or a movie" she tried to explain, "I never really felt..." she started over, but once again failed to come up with the words she needed.

Eliot tried not to smile too much, he really didn't want the poor girl to think he was laughing at her at all, because he really wasn't. For a woman of the world, there was a hell of a lot of ways in which Parker was a child. Sometimes it was easy to forget that she was an adult and capable of real feelings.

"Parker" he said, catching her attention as he reached for her and pulled her almost completely into his lap, "Close your eyes" he instructed her, and much like that kid she sometimes seemed to be, she did as she was told without thinking about the whys or wherefores.

Pushing loose strands of hair gently from her face, Eliot slid his hand behind Parker's head and slowly moved in til his lips met hers. She started a bit at the contact, somehow she hadn't been expecting it, but within a moment she relaxed into it.

Parker was sure she'd never felt like this, as if she were floating on a cloud and wrapped up in a warm blanket all at the same time, whilst tiny electric currents sparked up under her skin making it tingle in the best way.

And then it was over and she was breathing again, her eyes were open and she was looking at Eliot who was smiling at her. Before she really had a chance to react, the door opened and the rest of the team arrived. She was out of the hitter's embrace in a second and settled on the couch with her book as if nothing had ever happened.

It had happened though, and Parker was now confident that if anything went wrong on a job, if she should come to harm, at least she could die knowing what it was like to really be kissed. With a little luck, she hoped, she'd live a long time yet and that maybe Eliot would kiss her like that again before too long.


	3. H is for Home

**Title****: H is for Home**

**Prompt by****: hollow_echoes**

**Pairing/Characters****: Eliot/Parker**

**Rating****: PG**

**Setting****: Tag for The Future Job.**

**Word Count****: 441**

"You feeling better now, darlin'?" Eliot asked as he came into the kitchen to get to work on dinner and found Parker sat on a stool at the counter.

"Yeah, sure" she sighed, not looking exactly right still, "I can't believe how lame I was before" she tried to laugh at herself, but it didn't quite come off.

"Hey" said Eliot, putting a finger under her chin and making her meet his eyes, "it's not lame to care about your foster brother" he told her firmly, "Just so long as you're not blaming yourself anymore, because that's stupid" he told her, not willing to let her feel bad for something so far back in the past, just because of what some idiot fake psychic told her.

"I know" she smiled bravely, watching intently as Eliot got to work chopping vegetables and such, "I don't think it would've got me so upset if... well, now I have like another foster brother, and if anything happened..." tears welled in her eyes all over again and the hitter quickly abandoned the knife on the chopping board to move around the counter and pull her into his arms.

"Nothing's gonna happen to me, Parker" he promised her as he held her close and rubbed her back.

Eliot wasn't sure whether to be glad or offended when a giggle bubbled up out of her throat then.

"I'm not talking about you, silly" she swatted him in the shoulder as she moved enough to look at him properly, though remained in his arms, "I meant Hardison, he's like my brother, kind of" she considered, wiping a tear from her cheek.

"Oh" said Eliot with a nod, "Maybe you shouldn't tell him that" he considered, as he thought of the plainly obvious crush the hacker had on their little thief, something she was clearly oblivious to.

"He should know" she frowned a little, not getting what she was missing as usual, then just as quickly deciding she didn't care as she put her head on Eliot's shoulder and enjoyed being held a while longer, "It's weird, this is the most like a family I ever had" she told him, "Nate feels like a Dad, and Sophie feels like a Mom"

"What about me?" asked Eliot then, not sure why he was asking but he couldn't help himself somehow.

"You?" said Parker with a smile as she moved to look at him, "Right now, you feel like home" she said, hugging him tight.

Eliot was sure that had to be nicest thing anybody ever said to him, and the weird part was, he felt just exactly the same way.


	4. L is for Lipstick

**Title****: L is for Lipstick**

**Prompt by****: rockerbaby423**

**Pairing/Characters****: Eliot/Parker**

**Rating****: PG/PG-13**

**Setting****: non-specific**

**Word Count****: 413**

Nate, Hardison, and Sophie practically charged into the apartment, one behind the other, clearly meaning business.

"Eliot! Parker!" called Nate, and immediately the pair appeared from the next room, as ready for action as ever, after all they were all mid-con, "Okay, here's how we're going to fix this..." said their leader as the group formed an impromptu circle between the living space and the kitchen.

Sophie was listening to Nate, of course she was, but her eyes just kept straying to the blonde thief opposite and the way she kept rocking from foot to foot. Glancing downwards, the grifter realised what was wrong - Parker had her high-heeled shoes (that she was wearing specifically for her part earlier in the con) on the wrong feet!

"I'm cool with that, Nate" said Hardison, catching everyone's attention as he answered the mastermind, "but I ain't gonna pass for a member of the club dressed this way" he pointed out.

"Right, not a problem" he nodded, "Eliot, give Hardison the shirt"

"What?" the hitter replied sharply - nobody was sure if he was just being oddly possessive over a stolen country club shirt or whether he just hadn't been listening.

"The shirt you're wearing" said Nate slowly, as if talking to a child, "Take it off and hand it to Hardison" he explained.

"Right" the hitter shook his head like he was dazed and started unbuttoning the white shirt bearing the emblem on the breast pocket, not at all embarrassed, not least because he had a T-shirt on underneath.

Hardison took the shirt and pulled it on, as Nate gestured for Parker to come with him and the pair wandered away.

"Hang on a second..." Sophie's voice brought the both of them back and caught the attention of the others too, "Eliot, how did you get lipstick on this shirt?" she asked, gesturing to a spot on the collar that bore a distinctly pink mark.

"What? There's no lipstick mark on that. I don't know what you're talking about" the hitter gabbled out before hurrying away.

"Me either" declared Parker, as she practically ran after him, nearly falling down twice in her reversed stilettos, and yelping both times through lips that bore a pretty shade of pink lipstick that everyone recognised.

As the rest turned to watch the odd couple walk away, Nate was sure he heard Eliot mutter; "Next time we make out, it is _not_ gonna be in other peoples clothes"

"_Next time_?"


	5. V is for Vermeer

**Title****: V is for Vermeer**

**Prompt by****: fleurlb**

**Pairing/Characters****: Nate, Sophie, Eliot, Hardison, mentions Parker**

**Rating****: PG**

**Setting****: future/non-specific**

**Word Count****: 354**

Given the high levels of security, only the best thieves would attempt such a thing, and four of the very best thieves certainly were.

It hadn't come as a huge surprise when they all discovered each other there, though it had been years enough since the happy band of Robin Hoods had parted company.

Hardison's high-tech skills had got him through the front door, disabling alarms and locks like they were nothing at all.

Nate and Sophie were still together, or rather they were together again for about the fourth or perhaps fifth time since the teams split, lovers and partners both til the next explosion of crisis sent them running for cover - as usual, they had talked their way in.

Eliot was the obvious choice for getting the artwork out from under the noses of security without a problem, since his job was and had always been Retrieval Specialist; nobody knew how he'd got in or planned to get out but they knew better than to ask.

Of course the real mystery ought to have been why they had all chosen the same museum at the same time, the new Vermeer exhibit that began tomorrow with many of his best works restored to knew heights of beauty.

The sad smiles worn on all four faces as they met, as if it were planned, before the specific painting they had all come to steal, made it abundantly clear that they all knew why each other wanted it for their own.

The resemblance was striking between the girl in the picture and the one member of their team that nobody had been able to keep track of for years now, none of them sure if she was dead or alive, free or imprisoned.

Each of their hearts ached, losing the last of the hope that maybe, just maybe, Parker would have been here too, for the same reason they were.

The fact that she wasn't seem to confirm something they all knew deep inside, and so silent goodbyes were said, and the famous Vermeer remained hanging in its prize position, untouched by thieving hands.


	6. R is for Risk

**Title****: R is for Risk**

**Prompt by****: rockerbaby423**

**Pairing/Characters****: Eliot/Parker**

**Rating****: PG/PG-13**

**Setting****: non-specific**

**Word Count****: 462**

"You sure this is safe?" asked Eliot for about the fifth time in as many minutes as he pulled on the line that was attached to the harness he wore.

"Yes, for the seventeenth time" sighed Parker as she checked her own equipment one more time, rolling her eyes at how much of a coward the hitter was proving to be when it came to rappelling,

Hardison had made a fuss when she taught him how to do this, and the first time she and Sophie had dived down a stairwell she looked like she was going to pass out, but Parker had hoped Eliot would have a little less fear of something so simple, after all, his job was getting punched, kicked, and attacked with both guns and knives. That was all way more scary than this.

"You sure I need to be doing this, Nate?" the hitter asked their leader via his earbud.

"I'm not having Parker do this one alone, Eliot" Nate told him definitely, "The security office is right next to the vault and they're not exactly friendly guys" he reminded him.

He was right and they all knew it, but that didn't make Eliot any the less nervous about plummeting fifty floors off the side of a building with a crazy thief beside him. She knew what she was doing at least, after all this time, he trusted her in a lot of ways, and if anyone knew rappelling it was Parker. Still, he was trying hard to hide the fact he was shaking on the inside.

"Okay" said Parker as she finished her final checks, "All set. You ready to take a risk with me, brave hitter man?" she smiled as they walked up to the edge and Eliot made the mistake of looking down.

"This isn't a risk for you, you do this all the time" he snapped at her, swallowing back a wave of nausea.

"I wasn't talking about jumping" she said as she stepped up closer and latched the pair of them together.

Before Eliot had a second to react she had the attachment fixed, yelled the order to jump, and then crushed her lips against his the second before they began free-falling.

They landed with a bump, parting from their kiss right in front of the window where they should be.

"Everything okay?" asked Sophie, mindful of the mark realising she was talking.

"Yeah, we're fine" Parker grinned, as she made light work of getting in the window, "Some things are worth a risk, right, Eliot?" she said, glancing sideways at him.

"Right" he agreed with a smile you could almost hear, leaving the rest of the team to wonder what on Earth had happened between those two on the way down...


	7. M is for Memory

**Title****: M is for Memory**

**Prompt by****: meg63005**

**Pairing/Characters****: Eliot/Parker**

**Rating****: PG/PG-13**

**Setting****: non-specific**

**Word Count****: 508**

"How come you can do this?" asked Parker, almost managing to startle Eliot with her sudden appearance this time, _almost_.

"It's just food, Parker, it's not that hard" he told her, as he continued to move around the kitchen, adding a little more flour to the dough he was mixing together with his hands, "You never helped make cookies as a kid?"

"I don't think so" she replied from her place sat lotus-style on the opposite counter, "None of my foster parents were the baking kind, they were mostly the yelling kind" she said, without a hint of emotion.

Eliot had no doubt she felt it though. Sometimes he forgot she was a foster kid, that she hadn't had a nice family upbringing with folks that loved her. It really wasn't any wonder that she turned out a little odd, but then she wouldn't be Parker if she were anything else.

"You wanna help me?" he found himself offering and immediately she was at his side with the biggest grin on her face, Eliot didn't reproach hisemlf for a second, "Alright, here's your dough" he said, pulling the mixture into two halves and placing one lump in front of her on the counter.

Next he found her a rolling pin and instructed her on rolling out the cookie dough all even and flat, whilst he hunted around for another so he could do the same. Soon he had a whole set of cookie cutters laid out before them, and Parker was free to cut out whatever shapes she liked from her piece of dough.

"You did this with your Mom when you were a kid?" she asked, not looking up from what she was doing, applying careful concentration, to the point where her tongue was sticking out the corner of her mouth as she cut out her cookies.

"Yeah" Eliot nodded his reply as he worked on his own dough, "She'd have me stood up on a stool beside her when I was like three years old, helping her bake sugar cookies or something. Mama said I could be some big important chef some day..." he smiled, that expression fading as he had another thought, "Daddy said with long hair and cooking skills, all I was gonna be was a prissy freak" he said bitterly.

A deep breath pushed the anger away easily enough, but Parker couldn't ignore so easily what she knew she'd heard in his voice - seething anger, hurt, and pain.

"I think guys with long hair are sexy" she blurted out, "And guys that cook are totally hot" she added, turning fast and planting a kiss on Eliot's cheek before going right back to her cookies, "So, how long do we bake these for?" she asked, all innocence as if she'd said and done nothing out of the ordinary.

It took Eliot a minute before he could even answer her. He really couldn't remember ever meeting a woman like Parker before in his life, but he sure was glad she was here right now.


	8. I is for Imagination

**Title****: I is for Imagination**

**Prompt by****: meg63005**

**Pairing/Characters****: Eliot/Parker**

**Rating****: PG/PG-13**

**Setting****: non-specific**

**Word Count****: 488**

"I told you we should've called for a plumber!" Parker complained as Eliot's over-vigorous pulling at the dripping pipes under the sink caused one to give way, spraying them both with cold water.

Without a word the hitter moved the thief out of the way and scrambled to find the shut-off valve, whilst she just stood their looking unimpressed and dripping.

When Eliot returned a moment later, she was still staring at him with a look of shock at the mess he had caused.

"Why don't you go upstairs, see if Nate has some clothes we can borrow, and I'll clean up down here" the hitter advised, pushing his drenched hair back off his face.

Parker huffed about the whole thing but did as he said since she wasn't a fan of standing here all dripping wet anyway. Just as soon as she moved to walk away, she caught sight of Eliot's hands going to the edge of his T-shirt, making to pull it off over his head.

What she hadn't realised was that he turned to make sure she wasn't looking just as she hit the bottom of the stairs and started to take off her own clothes.

It never really occurred to Parker that she shouldn't show her body, after all it was just skin, right? Of course, some people filled their skin a little better than others, and Eliot was one of those people that definitely earned the description of 'built'. Like she hadn't noticed when he had his clothes _on_, but the glimpses she'd caught so far of a half-naked hitter gave her all kinds of good warm feelings.

By now she figured he would have his shirt off, probably leaning under the sink to survey the damage, and pushing his wet hair out of his face again to better see what he was doing. Though Parker's hands were busy in Nate's closet, seeking out clothes they might borrow, she was actually imagining running her fingers through a certain hitter's hair, letting her hands wander down his body, over the planes of his chest where drops of water ran south...

Parker physically shook herself out of the mini-daze she'd landed in, quickly grabbing a couple of shirts and closing the closet door with a thud. Her mind wandered a lot when she wasn't occupied, but not usually as vividly as that, and about Eliot!

Heading down the stairs, Parker was still buttoning the shirt she'd thrown on as she reached the kitchen and saw for real what her imagination had been conjuring up for her up to now.

"What are you staring at?" asked Eliot a little snippily, his eyes meeting Parker's own then, and taking away any words she might have used to answer him.

If she didn't know better, she'd say he'd been thinking of her just the same way she'd been thinking of him... Nah, that couldn't be right, could it?


	9. P is for Promises

**Title****: P is for Promises**

**Prompt by****: rockerbaby423**

**Pairing/Characters****: Eliot/Parker, Nate**

**Rating****: PG/PG-13**

**Setting****: non-specific**

**Word Count****: 594**

His breaths came in short ragged bursts as he gripped his friends hand and bit back the pain long enough to speak.

"You gotta go, just leave me" he forced out, but Nate firmly shook his head.

"No way, Eliot, we're a team" he promised him, "More then that, we're..."

"You gotta..." the hitter struggled, wincing as another wave of pain crashed over him, "You gotta tell Parker... wasn't her fault" he coughed, "Tell her... I love her"

"Don't talk like you're going anywhere, Spencer" Nate told him with a very forced smile, "because you're not"

Laboured breathing and far too much blood followed before Eliot could speak again.

"Nate, promise me" he begged him, "Promise me, you'll tell her, if I can't"

With tears in his eyes he couldn't help and tyres screeching in the distance, Nate gripped Eliot's hand tighter still and nodded his head.

"I promise" he swore.

That was good enough for Eliot as he allowed his eyes to close at last.

* * *

><p>She hadn't moved for hours, maybe days by now, but Parker barely noticed. All she saw or heard was Eliot, his chest rising and falling with each shallow breath, the monitor bleeping regularly to prove his heart was still beating.<p>

The team had told her it wasn't her fault - Sophie, Hardison, especially Nate - they all insisted and told her Eliot would too when he woke up... _if_ he woke up.

"You can't leave me now" she said with tears in her eyes, laying both her hands on top of his, "I lost too many people already, I can't... Not you" she told him, her voice breaking to nothing and crying hard by now as she let her head drop onto the edge of the bed.

She hadn't been that way very long when she felt movement, the soft touch of light fingers against her hair. Parker was startled but thrilled as she lifted herself up and realised that Eliot was awake at last.

"You're back" she grinned so wide, her face threatened to split in half, but that was okay, because Eliot was here.

Like an excited child, she ran out in the hall to grab Nate, and immediately he sent her down to the cafeteria to fetch Sophie and Hardison who had gone for snacks. Parker did as he asked, but not without looking back just once to see the hitter with his eyes open again, something she had started to fear would never happen.

"I did tell you that you weren't going anywhere" said Nate as he came to sit by Eliot's bed, a smile on his face that wouldn't shift.

"You always gotta be right" he whispered hoarsely, though his eyes were still on the door that swung in the wake of an excited Parker.

Nate followed his eyeline and smiled wider.

"I kept my promise, Eliot" he said, finally getting his attention, "I told her none of this was her fault, we all did" he assured him, "but I didn't say anything else. After all, I did only promise to tell her if you couldn't, and now you can" he said as Parker came rushing back into the room, with Sophie and Hardison on her heels.

As awful as it would've sounded, he still only saw Parker as she returned to his side and grabbed up his hand in both of hers.

"I'm back" she told him, "And I'm not leaving you again until you're better, I promise"

Right now, that was all Eliot needed to hear.


	10. W is for Winter

**Title****: W is for Winter**

**Prompt by****: fleurb**

**Pairing/Characters****: Parker**

**Rating****: G/PG**

**Setting****: Season 2**

**Word Count****: 340**

It had been a dark, lonely winter; it felt as if she had been lost in the murk for so long, she really had given up hope of ever getting out alive, so deeply frozen around her heart that no warmth could ever thaw it out, even if a spark was offered.

Unwanted as the snowdrifts, pushed aside and left to melt away, she was pretty enough but they tired of her easily, they wanted her gone before she was ever ready to be taken by whatever came next.

Out in the wilderness, away from a home that would hold her, warm her hands and face by the fire; though the dark sky was studded with diamonds, Parker saw no real light from her cracked and grimy window.

She clung to what she understood, but still the crinkled bills only looked like leaves of green, they were not really borne of Springtime, she was still locked out in the cold.

And it was always cold; cold and uncaring, no matter which city or country she landed up in, no matter where the North wind blew her, across oceans and plains.

Parker did not wait for a change, never wanted or asked after so long. She accepted the frozen wasteland and made it her own, made it shine with sparkling jewels of ice that no other could ever hold as she did. No, she never expected change, which was perhaps why it came.

Out of the black came blue, cold giving way to milder air, something almost warm - arms to catch her, a smile to greet her, words of advice, and those of encouragement.

In these people she found the Spring day she had almost forgotten to look for, the light she had started to believe should never be her own.

Now Winter was long gone, and Parker knew it for sure, because the first time in her life she saw flowers and sunlight, and she had never felt more alive than here with her team, her family, her home.


	11. E is for Evolve

**Title****: E is for Evolve**

**Prompt by****: meg63005**

**Pairing/Characters****: Eliot/Parker, OFC, mentions Nate/Sophie**

**Rating****: PG/PG-13**

**Setting****: non-specific**

**Word Count****: 506**

"Yeah, but how did it happen?" asked the little girl, all full of questions today as she was every day, such was the way with kids at the age of four.

"Well..." said Parker, considering the question as she continued colouring in her side of Maisie's book laid on the floor in front of them, "First we started working together, and then we got to be friends, I guess, and then... well, that just kinda evolved into what we have now" she said with a shrug.

Maisie looked puzzled as she twirled her dark hair around her finger.

"What's that mean?" she asked curiously, deciding she couldn't figure it on her own.

Before Parker had a chance to answer, someone else did it for her.

"Means she wore me down til I had to admit, crazy as she was, that I loved her"

"Uncle Eliot!" Maisie squealed with delight, suddenly on her feet and pelting at the man stood in the doorway.

"Hey kiddo" he laughed as he swept her effortlessly up off the floor into his arms, "What tales is crazy Aunt Parker been spinning ya this time?" he asked her, glancing at his girlriend who was now up from the carpet herself and sticking out her tongue at him, because she was just that mature even now.

"Just how you two fell in love" said the four year old easily, "It e-volve-ed from you guys being friends" she explained.

"Yeah, maybe it did" said Eliot, before swinging Maisie around then setting her on the ground as she giggled, "Now, you go ask ya Momma and Daddy where Uncle Hardison hid my guitar so I can kill him, okay?" he told the little girl, who dutifully nodded and ran off to complete her task without a second thought.

Eliot's attention was soon away from the kid he really did see as a niece and back on Parker as she crossed her arms over her chest, much like he usually did, and frowned.

"_Maybe_? It _maybe_ evolved?" she questioned him, "What's that about?"

"Nothing" he told her, realising she had taken his words completely the wrong way, "Just that, I guess on some level I knew from Day One we were gonna end up like this" he told her, as he slid his arms around her and pulled her close.

"You called me twenty pounds of crazy in a five pound bag" she reminded him, with a look that was somehow half-annoyed and half-amused.

"Yeah, but you were always _my_ twenty pounds of crazy" he pointed out, leaning in to kiss her but she evaded the contact so she could speak.

"Better make it twenty one" she said, watching confusion fill his face, "there's kinda something else evolving now..." she admitted, looking down at her own stomach.

Shock took Eliot's voice then, but nothing was going to stop him from kissing the woman he knew he loved, and probably had done from the first time he saw her throw herself from the top of a high-rise.


	12. Catch Me If You Can

**Title**: Catch Me If You Can

**Prompt by**: rozabellalove - _Thieves normally hate being caught, but the only person she wants underneath her when that harness fails and she's dropping like a stone, is Eliot Spencer _

**Rating**: PG

**Setting**: non-specific

**Word Count**: 972

Parker never feared falling, in fact she loved it. Jumping off buildings, out of windows, onto moving vehicles, it never mattered. The wind in her hair and a smile on her face was all she knew as she sailed down, ever downward, never afraid of the rush, always finding it exhilarating.

What was to be feared was not the ground either. Solid concrete never bothered Parker at all. She figured that if the harness broke forty storeys high, letting her plummet at break neck speed to the pavement below, she wasn't going to know anything about it. The thrill of the fall would end with a crunch and all she would know was black and nothing. She comforted herself that there would be no pain, just an ending, and she would go out as she knew she should, free-falling into the unknown, the same way she did everything.

The only fear Parker had when rappelling and such was landing, and landing well, but in the grasp of the wrong person. In the old days it was the good guys, the cops or security guards, that could potentially get her and take her away, lock her up behind bars and locks that even she could not escape. Either that or the people she was stealing from who would do much worse. These days it was the bad guys, the thugs and the goons, the evil businessmen and such. If one false move sent her plummeting into their waiting hands, Parker shuddered just thinking what might become of her.

It was a small fear, of course, something minor that she rarely considered, simply because she didn't have to. For the first time in the whole of her life, Parker had a safety net, and his name was Eliot Spencer. To the rest of the world, a hitter, retrieval specialist, a violent animal even, but to Parker he was safety, security, a reliable source of fear reduction for her alone.

Stood atop the building now, she checked the harness once, twice, three times for luck as she always did. Still, she cared not at all if the rope snapped or the hooks gave way. Peering over the ledge she saw Eliot waiting below, heard him in her ear bud as he growled about her wasting time and not getting on with the job fast enough. It didn't bother her, only caused a giggle to rise in her throat that would make him all the more mad, and she knew it.

Nate gave the count, down from ten, but he barely got to six before Parker launched herself over the side. They were used to it by now and didn't say a word as the thief did what she did best. She worked quickly and quietly on the window lock, slipping into the office and out again without a moments pause. Unfortunately, on climbing back out she had a problem. Ten storeys up from the ground, she just didn't have time to reattach herself properly as the guards spotted her on her way out the window and made a beeline for her.

Parker didn't consider it as taking her life into her own hands as she bodily flung herself out into the night. She was putting herself in Eliot's hands, quite literally, as she plummeted towards him at a ridiculous number of miles an hour. Free-falling as she always did with a smile on her face, her expression was not at all matched by the hitter's as he tried to brace himself for impact and didn't quite make it.

Strong as he was Eliot was floored by the force of even Parker's light-weight body hitting him full on. She landed on top of him, his arms around her, shielding her from the hard ground that might've meant the end. There was a good chance both of them had bruised some ribs and if Eliot hadn't cracked a vertebrae it was a miracle, but it was fine, he'd live, it was what he did.

"You okay?" he checked with the woman lying atop him, still grinning like an idiot.

"Yep" she confirmed, shivering despite the warm night.

Perhaps it was the exhilaration of the fall, maybe it was the way Eliot's hands were moving over her body right now, presumably checking for breakage though somehow it felt a lot different right now.

"You, er... you wanna move?" he asked her then, not entirely sure why he wanted her to in that moment when his eyes met hers, shiny and bright even in the dark.

"Y'know you're the only person who ever made me wanna be a lousy thief" she told him, with laughter in her voice, not least when she took in his expression of obvious confusion, "You're the only one I ever let _catch _me" she told him, as she suddenly levered herself off his body.

By the time Eliot had propped himself up as far as his elbows, Parker was off and running around the corner, chattering away through comms to Nate about what happened next. His breath coming back to him, the hitter got to his feet then and dusted off his backside. The moment was over, but what she had said still rung in his mind like a bell. She did always let him catch her and never once seemed to mind the closeness that entailed. It had to mean something, but right now wasn't the time to wonder on it. All Eliot was clear on was that he would always be there to catch Parker, whenever she fell or even threw herself deliberately into his arms. Glancing up ten floors to where her harness hung uselessly on the rope, letting out a long breath as he thought to himself;

'If I fall for her now, who the hell is gonna catch me?'


	13. Life As They Knew It

**Title**: Life As They Knew It

**Prompt by**: meg63005 - _They're not prepared for marriage/family_

**Rating**: PG

**Setting**: AU future

**Word Count**: 793

Eliot wasn't surprised when he walked into the room and saw Parker sitting there. The red-rimmed eyes and tear-stained cheeks would usually be unexpected but not so much in circumstances such as these. Still, the hitter wore a shocked expression as he took in the baby held tight on the thief's knees.

So much like her mother it was haunting, Mary Ann could easily have been Sophie de-aged. The idea of such a thing might've been amusing on any other day but the tragedy that had brought them both here put paid to that.

After everything that had happened when they were a team, a car wreck was no way for them to go. The notorious Nathan Ford and his glamorous grifter wife, they were living the fine life in a far away place, where cops and bounty hunters would never come calling, a decision made within moments of Sophie discovering she was expecting. The team dissolved but kept in touch whenever they could, just perhaps not as often as they should.

Eliot had promised over and over to visit, to meet baby Mary Ann before she was grown. Now here she sat with 'Aunt' Parker, a one year old orphan.

"Ah, Mr Spencer" the lawyer appeared, looking about as legal as Eliot's life's work but that didn't matter, "I'm glad you're here..."

"She's ours now"

The first words spoken by Parker since he walked in hit Eliot full on in the chest, like three bullets that pierced his heart. Any other person might've asked what they really meant, but he didn't need to. Years in Parker's company, Eliot knew her ways, every quirk of her lips and inclination of her head. She meant just exactly what she said, in the simplest terms. Mary Ann was their baby now, to raise the best they could for Nate and Sophie's sake. It was what the lawyer would have taken a speech to explain; Parker simpled it up to three words, knowing they were all that was needed.

"Okay" Eliot simply nodded, trying to find even a watery smile but failing miserably.

They weren't cut out for this, they just weren't prepared for this kind of family, to raise a baby, especially not together. Still, they were going to try, because there wasn't exactly a choice being given here.

Despite the saying, Eliot knew there _was _honour amongst thieves, some of them anyway. He gave his word in that moment to do right by the little girl he was just as soon handed, and knew that no matter how freaked out Parker clearly was, she would promise the same.

_One year later..._

"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday, dear Mary Anne. Happy Birthday to you!"

The chorus of only two voices ended their song and the two year old between them giggled happily, clapping her hands.

"Again, again!" she begged of her parents, who were not her parents at all, though she hadn't a clue about that.

The truth was Eliot and Parker loved her just as much as if they had made her themselves. They had also learnt to love each other in a way they really never saw coming.

"No, not again!" said Eliot with a chuckle as he ruffled the child's hair, "That's three times, baby girl, and that's two times too many already" he told her with a grin, as he dropped a kiss on top of her head and scrambled to get up off the floor.

"Ooh, where's Daddy going?" Parker asked Mary Anne as she picked the child up off the cushions and snuggled her close, "I think there's a surprise in the kitchen!"

No sooner were the words spoken than Eliot emerged with a cake in his hands, small enough for just the three of them, but still big enough that Mary Anne's eyes were wide as saucers at the sight of it. Eliot refused to go store bought on this and had spent hours making it just perfect for his little girl. It was worth it, he realised, as she beamed at him.

Parker helped blow out the two candles, and both girls applauded the wonderful baker's efforts.

"Look how happy she is" sighed Parker as she put her head on Eliot's shoulder, "I can't believe we got this far"

"Long way still to go, darlin'" he told her, hugging her close and kissing her hair, "but yeah, one year in, I think we're doing okay"

This wasn't quite the life they planned and they never really thought for a moment they could be happy in it, but so far so good, that's what they were both focusing on right now, as they headed into the future and whatever it threw at them.


End file.
